Braided Epaulet "How-to"

[Tartan Hiker]

I recently purchased a used Eton jacket for conversion to a formal kilt jacket, and with a black-tie event coming up next weekend I decided that I better get things in order. Snowy and cold today, so a good time to stay in and sew!

I knew that finding black wool to match the jacket would probably be impossible, so I decided to try my hand at a braided epaulet. To make the braids I secured a length of black nylon parachute cord at the local outfitters. I'm no genius when it comes to Celtic knotwork, so I downloaded this freeware program to draw the figure for me.

http://www.abbott.demon.co.uk/knots.html

After some tinkering and two false starts I settled on this design. The program will print in black line, color, or three-D, but the blackline version is easiest to follow. If you're using the program I did, set it on square-square, NX = 9, NY = 2. Set 1st Col to -15 to get blackline. Copy and paste it into word processor then enlarge and print it.



I made a mock-up of the design using a scrap of lumber and some finishing nails. Note that there is a nail at each numbered point, plus one in each of the four corners and one centered at the top.



I pinned the end of a 12-foot section of para cord and started weaving the design around the nails. A pair of forceps makes this much easier.



Here is the first circuit completed.



I then "chased" the cord around the pattern one more time to add mass.



And here it is completed.



More to follow.